With the flu’s effect on schoolchildren locally and across the nation, parents are encouraged to take every precaution to keep their children safe from the sickness, but also to slow the spread of the virus.

One of the more underestimated ways of slowing that spread is making sure children who’ve caught the virus are well and no longer contagious before they return to school.

“Overall, we do feel like students returning to school too soon has caused a problem in getting the flu to go down,” said Dr. Vivian Williams, the Chief of Student Support and Improvement for Jackson-Madison County Schools. “We try to go by what the Center for Disease Control and our board policies state in that matter, and our guideline is the child needs to be free of a fever for 24 hours before returning, particularly with the flu.

“The flu takes five to seven days before it’s not contagious and no longer spreading the flu, or really, any virus.”

Williams also stressed that state of being fever free must be without the aid of fever-reducing medication.

“We’re not concerned with a number of a thermometer as much as we are making sure the body is no longer fighting a virus before walking into school,” Williams said.

JMCSS had to close Rose Hill Middle School on Feb. 9 because more than 30 percent of the students in the school were out.

“That 30 percent number is where we decide to call school for illness reasons, but if a lot of teachers are out, that can be a concern, too,” Williams said. “If a teacher calls in sick, he or she is responsible for finding a substitute, but if that teacher comes to school and leaves early, then the principal is the one that needs to find a sub.”

Williams said extreme cases of teachers being out have created a need to temporarily combine classes.

Even though the vaccine is not a perfect match with this year’s dominant flu strain, doctors still recommend people get a flu shot.(Photo: AP 2013 file photo)

West Carroll Special Schools, Gibson County Schools, Benton County and Trinity Christian Academy are some schools that have canceled classes for illness since the semester began in early January.

Crews are working fervently to make sure facilities at all schools in all local districts remain disinfected to limit the spread of the flu. But the viral outbreak is here for a few months.

“We’ve seen projections from the CDC that look like this could last until May through the end of school,” Williams said. “So we need to be prepared to all do our part — get the flu vaccine, make sure your hands stay washed and be sure you’re no longer contagious before coming back, if you do come down with it.

“This is the worst I’ve seen a flu outbreak in 10 years around here, but hopefully we’ll keep it as minimal as we can in our schools.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.

The drug maker Shionogi said that its new flu treatment only needs 24 hours to kill the flu, at least according to a late-stage trial it conducted on America and Japanese patients.(Photo: Deseret News Hive)

Attendance has been down at some local school districts with students out because of the flue.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Kirsten Shoop, LPN, washes her hands while working in the emergency room Thursday, February 8, 2018 at Chambersburg Hospital. Mask and hand sanitizer are available for visitors during the flu season.(Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)

Keep your children home from school if they exhibit flu-like symptoms.(Photo: cglade, Getty Images)